A Father's Way
by Mikila2
Summary: 8 yr old Bulla asks 18 yr old Trunks if Vegeta cares about them and Trunks explains to her how to tell that he does despite his lack of words and physical affection. To demonstrate his point, the two cary out a few schemes to test their father.


**Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ**

**Warnings: I call "Bra" "Bulla" in my stories; I don't use swearing so any words that COULD be swearish are underlined. Depending on your own view, the characters COULD be considered a little OOC, but I don't think it's that bad. Trunks is 18 in this chapter and Bulla 8. I MAY do more chapters with similar themes. This story follows "To Make You Proud", "Like Father, Unlike Son", and "Flying Lessons for Bulla", but it should be fine to read on its own.**

**A Father's Way**

Trunks looked to the doorway as the TV show he'd been watching went on commercial. He'd spotted his eight-year old sister from the corner of his eyes and now as he looked to her he noticed the sad expression in her eyes. "What's up?" he asked, trying to sound cheerful in case she didn't want to talk about it, but empathetic in case she did.

Bulla shrugged and walked toward the couch, leaning on the arm and looking to the TV. She was waiting for her big brother to ask her more.

"You wanna watch some TV with me?" Trunks asked.

Bulla shrugged again and plopped onto the couch.

Trunks sighed, grabbing the remote and turning the TV off so he could focus on his obviously sulking. "Ok, tell me what's wrong?"

"Trunks? Does daddy love us?" Bulla asked.

Trunks' eyes widened with surprise. "…Of course he does! Why would you ask that?"

"Well…," Bulla looked away, "He never says so."

"If you listen carefully, you'll hear it."

Bulla looked back to her brother with questioning eyes.

Trunks smiled with understanding. "Dad isn't a man of many words. He doesn't like to express his feelings that way."

"Why not?"

"Well…," Trunks thought about how to answer. "A lot of stuff happened to him when he was young and he feels weak if he talks about the way he feels."

"Why?" Bulla was thoroughly confused.

"When you get older you'll understand better. But for now, do you want to know how to tell dad loves you?" Trunks asked.

"Yeah," Bulla sat up with wonder.

"Ok," Trunks sat forward. "First of all, you know how when you leave the house to go anywhere if dad is there he'll always ask where you're going?"

"Uh-huh," Bulla had no idea where this was going.

"If he didn't care, he wouldn't ask."

"Huh?"

"Parents want to know where you're going because they worry about you if they don't know. They worry that something bad might happen. If they didn't care then they wouldn't worry," Trunks could see this was over his sister's head. "Let me put it this way. If you wanted to go to the ocean by yourself, would dad let you?"

"No!" Bulla giggled. Of course he wouldn't!

"Do you know why?"

Bulla thought for a moment. "No."

"It's because you could get hurt if you went by yourself. If dad didn't care about you, he wouldn't care if you got hurt."

Bulla looked at him with skepticism. "Are you sure?"

"Yep, I'm positive. Here's another example. If dad takes you somewhere are you allowed to run off by yourself?"

"No."

"You have to stay close to him, right?"

"Yeah."

"That's because he wants to be sure you're safe. If you run off by yourself you might get into trouble. Maybe somebody will kidnap you or you'll get lost."

"But you don't have to stay by dad."

"That's because I'm older and I can take care of myself now."

"Does that mean dad doesn't care about you anymore?" Bulla was confused.

"No," Trunks chuckled. "You know how dad and I are always arguing about training?"

"You mean when daddy always wants you to and you don't want to do it?"

"Yep," Trunks rolled his eyes a little. "The reason dad wants me to train is because he's afraid if I don't then I might get hurt someday."

"But you don't do it. If he cared then… that means he would make you do it, right?"

"Well, sometimes he _does_ make me, doesn't he? Like that time he made me fight in the tournament with Goten and Pan, remember?"

"He made you fight because he cares?"

"Yep."

"But you didn't want to."

"Nope," Trunks readily agreed.

"And you still don't want to, right?"

"That's right."

"So… you don't want dad to care about you?" Bulla tried to sort this information out.

Trunks sighed. This was turning out far more difficult to explain than he'd thought. Girls sure thought differently from guys. "That's not it, Bulla. Dad cares about me whether I train or not, and he cares about you too. Just because we sometimes don't do what dad wants us to doesn't mean he doesn't care anymore. What I'm trying to tell you is just that the reason dad has any rules at all is because he cares."

"How come daddy never holds me?"

"Guys aren't really into cuddling," Trunks tried to be tactful, though he, personally, often made an exception for his little sister.

"But you let me sit on your lap sometimes. How come dad doesn't?"

Trunks sighed. "I don't know how to explain so that you'll understand. I think that's part of his past. He's just not a hands-on kind of guy."

"Well…," Bulla crept closer. "What happened to him?" she watched her brother as she slowly made her way into his lap, careful to see that he was in the mood to let her.

"I don't really know, Bulla. He doesn't talk about it. I heard all I know from mom and Gohan; and maybe a little from Piccolo."

"Did you ever ask him?"

An uneasy feeling crept over Trunks. He had wondered a few times, but he'd never had the nerve to ask. Vegeta had a way of being very intimidating and he liked to keep that barrier strong with his children. "No," Trunks admitted.

"Why not?" Bulla raised her head to look into her brother's eyes.

"I…," Trunks didn't really want to tell her it was because he was too afraid of their father's reaction to ask about those kinds of things, "I just haven't found the right time to do it."

"Ok," Bulla sat straight and turned so she would be facing her brother (still on his lap). "So. The way we know dad cares is because… why was it again?"

"Because dad never lets anything bad happen to us."

"Yeah, because he protects us, right?"

"Right."

Bulla drew in a breath. "Ok," she wasn't completely satisfied, but she understood better.

"You know what?" Trunks got a mischievous smirk on his face.

"What?" Bulla was excited. She knew that look.

"How about we test it out a little? Do you want to see what will happen?"

"Yeah!" Bulla's blue eyes got big and sparkled.

"All right, here's what you do first," Trunks whispered in her ear.

X X X X X X X X X X

Vegeta was just about the start his afternoon session in the weight room when he spotted his daughter from the corner of his eye. She had a suspicious guilty sparkle in her eyes. "What," he decided to ask as he picked up the first weight and began lifting it.

"Dad, can I go to the mall?" Bulla smiled sweetly.

Vegeta glanced at her with disapproval. "With who?"

Bulla knew this was the time to really play it up. "Well…," she kicked at the floor and avoided eye contact. "I… kinda wanted to go by myself."

Vegeta snorted. "Don't be absurd. You're a child."

"I'm already eight, dad!" Bulla put her hands on her hips.

"And you're not going to the mall by yourself until you're thirty," Vegeta glared shortly at her.

"Really?" Bulla's face was far more excited than Vegeta had expected.

Vegeta glanced with surprise from the corner of his eyes as Bulla ran to the door and stood facing someone invisible. "He said exactly what you said he would, Trunks!"

"Shh!" was all the reply he heard.

"What the?!" Vegeta sat up with annoyance. "What is going on here?!"

"Nothing," Bulla smiled sweetly as Trunks grabbed her shoulder and shoed her off with him.

X X X X X X X X X X

"Ok, now don't make a sound," Trunks whispered as he slid under his little sister's bed. "Pretend you're asleep," he repressd his ki.

"Are you sure he really checks on us at night?" Bulla was skeptical about this one.

"Yes, and it's almost always at this time, so stop talking or he'll know you aren't asleep and you'll get in trouble."

Bulla yawned. She'd had to stay up awfully late for this plan. A few minutes passed in silence.

"Trunks," Bulla whispered.

"Quiet, I'm serious!" Trunks replied in a hushed tone.

Bulla sighed and closed her eyes again. A few minutes later she could feel a little bit of light hit her face. She tried extra hard not to move, but it was hard to pretend. After a few seconds the door shut again and she heard soft footsteps leaving.

"See?" Trunks whisper was really quiet.

"Are you sure it wasn't mom?" Bulla asked.

"Yes, now listen," Trunks instructed.

Both was incredibly quiet and then Bulla could hear her father's voice from down the hall.

"Bulma, where's Trunks?"

"Isn't he in bed?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta's reply came with irritation, "I wouldn't be asking if he was. I can't sense his ki anywhere."

"He's looking for you!" Bulla whispered excitedly.

"I told you he would," Trunks replied, concentrating an keeping his ki hidden. This was the tricky part now.

"Are you gonna get in trouble?" Bulla suddenly became alarmed.

Trunks chuckled nervously. "I hope not. Just be quiet and don't give me away. You'd better go to sleep now too or you'll end up in trouble," Trunks pulled himself out from under the bed.

Suddenly the door swung open and Trunks dove in a lightning flash into the corner behind the dresser, hoping he hadn't been seen as his heart pounded.

Vegeta's eyes darted to the dark corner, but he didn't give it away right then. "Bulla!"

"Huh?" Bulla pretended to be groggy as she slowly sat up and stretched, glancing briefly at her brother. Trunks rolled his eyes. He'd be found out for sure.

Vegeta glared. Bulla just looked back at him. One thing was for sure. His little eight year old wasn't going to crack without some questioning. Vegeta wasn't sure if he wanted to play games or just get to the bottom of this. He growled, impatience winning out. "Trunks, what the heck are you doing in your sister's room this time of night, and Bulla, why are you awake?"

"Uh," both kids had no answer. Trunks didn't even step out of the shadow.

"Come out of there!" Vegeta demanded.

Slowly Trunks stepped forward and grinned guiltily.

"What the heck is going on with you two today?!" Vegeta's eyes were piercing.

"I don't know. Maybe we're…," Trunks desperately groped for an excuse. He certainly couldn't tell his father what they were really up to; that would be far too embarrassing for _everyone_. "Excited for the end of the school year?" he suggested.

Vegeta ignored him. "Bulla, you have five seconds to give me the truth."

Trunks glanced at his sister, a telling look in his eyes. Bulla knew he didn't want her to tell the truth.

"Umb…," Bulla thought. "Trunks had a nightmare?"

Trunks slapped his face. They were dead meat.

"Wrong answer! No allowance for a week. Want to try for two weeks?"

"But I was gonna get some candy!" Bulla whined.

"Then you'd better tell the truth before you haven't any money for the rest of your life," Vegeta glanced in his son's direction, "and yours is gone for a month."

"What?!" Trunks' mouth dropped open. He'd been saving for a senior gift to himself.

"Trunks, is this cause he cares too?" Bulla pouted.

"Probably," Trunks muttered, crossing his arms and scowling, "But I don't see the application."

Vegeta looked with utter confusion and irritation from one child to the next. "I'm running out of patience here!"

"All right," Bulla sighed heavily. "Trunks was teaching me how to know that you care."

Vegeta's mouth dropped open and he let out a breath. Words weren't coming he was so shocked.

"He said when you make rules it's because you care and he was hiding under my bed because he said you would come and check on us at night to make sure we were ok," Bulla explained.

Neither of the saiyan males could keep from blushing a little, though Trunks much more so. He was pretty sure being caught at such a thing was far more humiliating than any punishment would have been.

"Welp, I've got an early morning, I'd better be getting to bed," Trunks tried to slink out past his father, but Vegeta stuck out an arm, blocking his exit. His attention was still on his daughter.

"This afternoon?" Vegeta finally asked.

"Trunks said you'd never let me go to the mall by myself because it was too dangerous and that's because you care," Bulla answered.

Vegeta took in a deep breath and sighed. It was rather embarrassing to be talked about in such a way. He didn't like discussing his concern over his family, thought it, _of course_, existed.

"Daddy? Are you mad at us?" Bulla finally worked up the nerve to ask after there was silence for a short bit.

"You're both grounded," Vegeta replied.

"Why? What'd we do?" Bulla objected.

"_You_, for being up this time of night, _Trunks_," he looked to his son, "For hiding his ki and _both_ of you for lying."

"But I told you the truth!" Bulla complained.

"_After_ you lied first," Vegeta pointed out. "Now go to bed, _both _of you," he started out of the room.

"Dad," Bulla's voice was low and annoyed. "is this because you care?"

"Yep, and no allowance either," he added, halfway down the hall already.

"Sometimes I think I'd rather he _didn't_ care," Trunks muttered.

"Me too," Bulla slid into her bed, arms crossed.


End file.
